


118 Kilograms

by Iluvunicorns327



Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, New Dangan Ronpa V3: Everyone's New Semester of Killing
Genre: F/M, Gen, Kaito is the best bro, M/M, Oma Kokichi Is a Little Shit, Oma Kokichi Needs a Hug, chapter 5
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-11
Updated: 2020-01-11
Packaged: 2021-02-27 12:20:41
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,683
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22207039
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Iluvunicorns327/pseuds/Iluvunicorns327
Summary: Strike 9 AntidoteThis antidote should be strong enough forone manof 120 Kilograms.Or, In which Kokichi and Kaito's combined weight is 118 Kilograms.
Relationships: Momota Kaito & Oma Kokichi, implied Harukawa Maki/Momota Kaito, implied Oma Kokichi/Saihara Shuichi
Comments: 49
Kudos: 967





	118 Kilograms

_ Maki Haruwaka ran faster than she ever had before. How could Kaito, the one person she had learned to love and respect, throw his life away for someone as unimportant as Ouma? Ouma, who put them in this killing game and forced them to murder. To kill, even when she had finally found people they could love. Maki thought about Himiko and Tenko, ever so briefly, while she ran. She thought about Gonta, and Miu, and Angie, and Ryoma, and Rantaro and Kaede and- _

_ The door to the detective labs slammed open with a loud thud. Maki didn’t give it time to bounce back before she entered. She grabbed the cabinet door.  _ Strike 9,  _ She thought.  _ The antidote has to be here, I knew that I grabbed one with an antidote-

Strike 9 Antidote

This antidote should be strong enough for  **one man** of 120 Kilograms.

_ Maki didn’t even think before she grabbed the bottle, and left the room faster than she had entered. She huffed as she went back to the hanger - she was pushing herself as if the slow-acting position would kill Kaito immediately. _

_ When she reached the hanger window, she saw Kaito coughing on the ground by Kokichi. She didn’t even spare a glance the little gremlin though, instead, immediately calling out to her friend. _

_ “Kaito!” She shouted with a hoarse voice. “Take this! It’s an antidote - there’s enough for one person _ ! _ ” She shoved her hand grasping the small vial through the tiny window. “The bolts were poisoned but you can still save yours-” _

_ Before she could even finish, though, She was faced with the worst possibility. Ouma’s hand reached hers before Kaitos -  _ I wasn’t paying attention, I should have been looking -  _ and grabbed the antidote -  _ I let my guard down. I let my guard down and I killed him -  _ before stepping back just out of her reach. _

_ “Thanks a bunch, Harumaki! You just let me win.” His shrill voice echoed in her head. She lost control of her voice as he brought the vial to his lips. _

_ The scream Maki let out was guttural and animalistic. Nothing was comprehensible as her arms shoved through the window, cutting herself on the edges. She gasped at the air, at nothing, as she tried, desperately, to grab the boy who was just out of her reach. _

_ It was too late. The vial reached Ouma’s lips and she knew that Kaito was as good as dead. _

\--o0o--

Kaito looked horrified at the bottle Ouma had given him while the smaller boy set up the camera on the upper level of the Hydraulic press. Had Ouma really faked drinking this, faked and lied about everything, just to sacrifice himself? 

He had explained in his plan to Kaito that he wanted to end this game.  _ “How can you enjoy a game that you’re forced to play?”  _ Ouma taunted.

Kaito Momota wasn’t dumb, though. He could tell what he meant there. Ouma didn’t hate the game, he hated the killing. Maybe Kaito had passed his judgment on the boy too soon.

After all, he was giving him his life.

He stared down and the bottle, then back up to the door of the hanger.  _ She’s still out there, huh. _ He could hear the muffled sound of Maki yelling and attacking the door, desperately trying to get in.

How could Kaito accept this? How could Kaito be okay with taking the one chance of life either of them had from this tiny, tiny boy.

This tiny...

Kaito’s eyes widened and turned back to the bottle.

_ Strike 9 Antidote _

_ This antidote should be strong enough for  _ **_one man_ ** _ of 120 Kilograms. _

Ouma was  _ really  _ small.

“Hey, Ouma?” He hesitantly asked.

“What is it?” Ouma spat back. He was clearly stressed. “I’m trying to set this up, you should be drinking that and reviewing the notes I gave you.”

“I was just wondering-”

“I’m trying to focus here, idiot. There’s no time for your stupid questions-”

“How much do you weigh?” Kaito was nothing unless impatient.

Kokichi laughed with no humor. “I’m trying to end the killing game here, you dumbass! Why in the hell-”

“Just tell me, Ouma! Jesus, you can do that while your working!”

Ouma huffed. “About 44 Kilo’s.”

Kaito’s breath hitched. “I weigh 74.”

“And? Why does that matter?”

“Ouma, how closely did you read the bottle?”

“Close enough! I’m busy!”

“ _ Ouma, _ ” Kaito stressed. “The Antidote is strong enough for a man who weighs 120 Kilos - if we add our weight together, we’re 118.”

Ouma stopped. “Huh?”

“If we separate it correctly we should have just enough for both of us,” Kaito said airily. “Ouma -  _ neither of us needs to die!” _

“I- but- then-” Ouma paused. “The  _ plan,  _ Momota, you idiot, we can’t end the killing game without-”

Kaito jumped up. “The infirmary!” Kaito realized. “The infirmary has a blood bank - if we grab some of it there, then we can still go through with the plan, but with both of us in the exisal. We set up the blood bags under the press with the video - nobody’s dead down there. They explode, give the same effect, and then there’s a body discovery with  _ no body.” _

Ouma bit his thumb. “We only had one electro-bomb. We can’t afford to go out to the infirmary - the cameras will see us. The entire plan will be doomed.”

Momota tried to think - there had to be a way, there had to be a way for them to go through this without killing anyone...

His thoughts were cut off by another muffled yell and hit to the door as Harumaki tried desperately to enter the hanger.

“ _ Harumaki.”  _ Kaito’s arms grabbed his head in amazement. “Harumaki! It makes total sense for her to go the infirmary! If we get her to go there and raid everything, including blood bags, we can make her say she was going there to see if anything would help to heal us! If you were trying to heal someone and didn’t know what to do, you would grab everything right? If she brings a duffle bag full of supplies, and in there, there are blood bags, we can make this work! We just need to get her in on it!”

Ouma scoffed. “That would work, but do you really think that she’s going to agree to something like that? She would  _ never _ work with me, idiot.”

“Of course she wouldn’t,” Kaito stated matter-of-factly. “But she would work with  _ me. _ Even if it meant helping you.”

“And you’re sure you’re willing to do that?” Ouma asked.

“What?”

“Help me, Momota.”

“Ouma...” Kaito sighed. “You’re a little shit.” 

Kokichi grinned. “Of course I am, after all, I-”

“No, shut up.” Kaito interrupted. “I’m not done. You’re a little shit, Ouma. And what you did to Gonta - I don’t think I’m ever going to forgive you for that.” Kaito took a moment to catch up to his thoughts. “But here? Just you and me with no cameras and the thought of certain death, you told me that you hate this killing game. And I think that might just be the first complete truth anyone has wrangled out of you.”

Ouma stayed still for a moment. “You really are a dumb shounen protagonist, Momota. Always sickeningly positive like that.” He murmured.

Kaito grinned. “You know you can call me Kaito right?”

Ouma almost looked surprised, for half a second. “Why would I want to be on a first-name basis with a dummy like you?” He grinned. “Let’s split this drink and get your girlfriend to grab us some blood,  _ Kai-to. _ ”

\--o0o--

“What?”

Kokichi watched Shuichi’s arms go limp from inside the exisal. The electro-hammer the detective had help clattered on the group as he dropped to his knees, staring at the bloody press. Kokichi felt terrible seeing him like this, even if he couldn’t help but feel a pang of jealousy.

It was  _ Kaito’s _ sleeve that hung out of the hangar, not his. Shuichi would never drop down and cry for the ultimate supreme leader.  _ You can’t spend all day pitying yourself, Ouma. get it together. _

“Wow, even  _ I  _ feel a little bad watching this pitiful display!” Kokichi playfully gasped.

“Shut up!” Kaito squawked. “Shuichi’s not pitiful, that’s my best bro! Of course, he’d feel bad if someone else died! I’d be more worried if he didn’t!”

“Yeah, yeah. I know Shuichi’s not pitiful. He’s like, the  _ one  _ competent person in this group.” Kokichi huffed. “Now be quiet, space boy. We need to see if-”

A familiar chime rang out through the hanger. Kokichi wildly grinned. 

“A body has been discovered!”

“Holy shit,” Kaito announced. “I can’t believe that actually worked.”

“We just need to make sure that Shumai doesn’t put this together. Or your Girlfriend doesn’t fuck up. As long as that doesn’t happen, then we’ll have outplayed Monokuma.”

“I can’t believe this is happening,” Kaito whispered. He ran his fingers through his hair and laid back. “I’m helping end this shit, finally. And I’m doing it crammed in a killing machine meant for a teddy bear with an overgrown child.”

“Hey!” Kokichi growled. “I’m not a child! I-”

“Are you sure? Because somebody told me they weigh 44 kilos, which is barely anything-”

“- I hate kids anyway, so comparing me to them makes you a total bully-”

“You’re built like a stick, dude. I know I get Shuichi to work out with me, but maybe you should go on your own quest of fitness and gain some muscle-”

“- You know we’re coworkers in ending this killing game now, right? I could probably file this as harassment.”

Kaito dry laughed. “With who? Monokuma, or Maki? Because either one will probably end up with you dead, little du-” Kaito’s sentence cut off midway through.

Kokichi hated what he saw next. 

Kaito cut himself off by a fit of wet coughing. A speckle of blood landed on his white undershirt.

And then another one. And another.

He wiped off the blood the best he could before turning away from Kokichi.

“...” Kokichi started at the astronaut. “You’re dying, Momota.”

Kaito huffed. “Nah, It’s a little sickness. And I thought I told you to call me Kaito.”

“Little sicknesses don’t make you cough up blood.”

“...” Kaito stared out the window of the exisal. “Let’s talk about this when we’ve ended the game, alright?”

“Fine,” Kokichi gave in. “It’s not like I even care if you live or die, anyway.”

“And that’s why you shred the antidote with me, right?” Kaito smiled.

“It’s all part of the greater plan. Someone like you would never understand, Kaito.” the leader taunted back.

Kaito laughed. ( _ There was blood in his lungs. It must have hurt. Look what you’ve done, Ouma. _ ) “I’m sure I wouldn’t, Kokichi.”

Kokichi mocked offense. “Who told you that you can call me by my first name?”

“You’re calling me Kaito, aren’t ya? I think I reserve that right.”

“First name’s don’t work like that for supreme leaders.” Kaito only rolled his eyes in response.

Kokichi crossed his arms and looked out the one-way chrome window of the exisal at the investigation taking place. His friends- ( _ you don’t get the right to call them that, Ouma.) _ \- his classmates all though one of them was dead. (except, of course, Mrs. Harumaki.) They wordlessly looked around the room for any sign of who could have done this. Kokichi’s eyes were drawn to Shuichi rifling through the bag of the infirmary’s supplies purposefully made to look haphazardly thrown into the room. The boy detective focused intensely, mentally categorizing every item in the pile.

_ Please, Shuichi.  _ Kokichi thought.  _ Just this once, please. Get it wrong. _

\--o0o--

_ None of this makes sense.  _ Shuichi though.  _ It doesn’t add up. Where did the medical supplies come from? Why is the wrong side of Kaito’s jacket fallen out of the press? _

_ Who is - Who’s in the press? _

Shuichi didn’t know the answers to any of these questions. Everything about the trial filled him with dread. He was horrified the Kaito would be dead.

_ Or Kokichi. _

Shuichi tried to focus on the investigation, but the air of death in the room was sickening. Every breath through his came with the metallic taste of blood that had become all too familiar to him. He felt suffocated in the wide-open hangar, like the atmosphere around him was too heavy, crushing him smaller, and smaller...

The duffle bag that had been clearly thrown in through the bathroom window had supplies form the infirmary. Shuichi needed to leave the hangar.

When Shuichi entered the infirmary, the first thing he saw was that the room had been ransacked. Whoever filled that bag had gone in and grabbed just about anything within reach. Entire shelves of pills were gone - Shuichi could just imagine a panicked person swiping the shelf of bottles into the bag. It wasn’t hard to put together that whoever grabbed everything from this room did it with haste and little planning.

Shuichi began to look closer through the room. A few bottles with no clear link between them were laid on the ground, and a gauze strip had unfurled across the room. Most of the products swiped seemed to be ones that someone of average height could reach easily. No care seemed to be taken in what they grabbed as if they were simply picked randomly.

Shuichi mentally categorized that piece of information -  _ Items were randomly chosen and easy to reach. _

Giving himself a final look over of the room, Shuichi mentally prepared himself to look back in the hanger. But before he left, he noticed something was off.

_ If whoever took these things chose random things that were easy to reach, why did they open the fridge, which is in the far corner, and get blood bags? _

\--o0o--

Maki wasn’t opposed to lying, exactly. She had lied her entire life, over and over. It’s a necessity to be an assassin. She lied to protect her life.

But she’d never had to lie to protect someone else’s life before.

She’d never had to lie to protect  _ Kaito’s  _ life before. (And Ouma’s, but his didn’t count.)

Knowing that her friend’s life was on the line based on her lies set her on edge, but she couldn’t show it. She  _ had  _ to make everyone believe that she thought Kaito was dead. She would let it out in the trial that she shot them, about the Strike-9 and the one antidote, about how she decided to impulsively go to the infirmary to attempt to save them.

Maki stared at the press, and at Kaito’s ruined jacket inside of it. She didn’t want to lie to Shuichi, but Kaito’s life mattered more than his detective abilities. She  _ would _ convince him that there was a body in the body discovery.

Because if she didn’t... if Gonta’s trial taught her anything, it was that Shuichi valued the truth. And she didn’t know how he’d react in the trial if he learned this one. 

_ Speak of the devil,  _ She thought,  _ and he’ll appear. _

Shuichi entered the room, his face immediately scrunching up from the stench of blood. Maki walked over to meet him.

She struck of mind conversation. “Did you find anything in the infirmary?”

“Not anything too big.” He sighed. “Whoever went in there chose things off the shelves with no real sense of care.”

Maki internally let out a breath.  _ Good. He didn’t notice anything weird. _

“Although, I did notice something weird.” He mumbled.

_ Shit. Shit, fuck, goddamn it. _ “What was it?”

“Whoever went in there chose stuff randomly, clearly.” He reported. “But they also seemingly went out of their way to get blood bags, which are way out of the way of everything else grabbed.”

Maki gave her instinctive response when trapped in a corner. “Do you want to die?”

Shuichi looked taken aback. “What?”

“Nothing.” She quickly turned away. “I’m going to investigate the restroom again.” She turned on a dime and left the situation, leaving Shuichi behind her.

_ Nice slip-up, Harukawa. You’re gonna get him killed,  _ She internally scolded herself.  _ I can play that off as me trying to hide that I was ever involved if I play this off right. There are stakes here, Maki. _

The hangar’s restroom was small and smothering. Maki couldn’t imagine how much Kaito, who loved freedom more than anyone else, would have hated being in a room like this for so long. How much he must hate being in the even smaller exisal, and stuck in there with such a disagreeable roommate...

Maki’s eyes scanned the room and landed on the toilet.

... Did he really?

Yeah. Kokichi Ouma’s bloody and arrow-hole riddled uniform was unceremoniously flushed down and clogging the hanger bathroom toilet. She hated that piece of shit more than anything else in the world. She hated that she was  _ working _ with him. Kaito had insisted that he wasn’t the mastermind. Kaito had  _ sworn.  _ Maki trusted him and his judgment, but still. Even if he wasn’t the mastermind, he was still  _ Ouma _ .

Shuichi would find the uniform before too long, and she’s pretty sure Kokichi must have put it there for a reason. Even if he didn’t, she didn’t want to stick her hand down a toilet bowl to grab his uniform. 

Maki turned to exit the bathroom, only to run directly into the ultimate detective.

“Shuichi,” she stated. “You’re investigating the bathroom again?”

Shuichi looked behind her into the room. “I uh, haven’t actually checked in here yet.”

“Okay.” She stepped out of his way and continued on the path out of the room, but his voice stopped her.

“Maki, can you actually stay in here with me for a minute? I want to ask you some questions regarding this case.” 

_ Shit. _ “Okay.” She turned herself around and looked back at Shuichi. The detective was scanning the room, his eyes landing and staying on certain points as if to mark them of note. He started walking over to the window after a moment.

“Last night, you left your dorm room, didn’t you.” It wasn’t phrased as a question.

“And if I did?” She asked coldly.

Shuichi sighed. “Maki, it only makes sense if you were at the hangar at some point last night.” His eye’s moved from where he was investigating to meet hers. “ _ Please,  _ Maki. We need to get everything right or everyone will have to pay for it.”

_ How little he really knows... That’s the  _ opposite _ of what we need in this case. _

Maki faked a sigh. “I’ll...” She considered. “At the trial. We can talk at the trial.”  _ If we talk at the trial, then there’s less time you’ll have to put the real truth together. _

“Maki...” Shuichi looked at the window frame. Small bits of blood were dried there from her desperate first attempts at Ouma.

“I promise Shuichi. I’ll tell the whole truth at the trial.”

Shuichi looked desperately in her eyes for half a moment. “Fine. You can keep looking elsewhere, I really do have to investigate the bathroom though.”

Maki exited the room and closed her eyes, resting her head against the wall. This was harder than she thought it would have been.

She’d never had to lie to protect a friend before. She’d never had to lie to a friend either.

\--o0o--

“Nihishishishi!” Kokichi laughed. “No way you’re getting me out of here!”

Kaito felt like he was going to puke. How could Kokichi be so argumentative when  _ Monokuma _ was right there?

“You... You!!!” The bear shouted. “You had  _ better _ leave that exisal! You can’t hide in there the whole trial! We can’t do this if we don’t know who’s inside!”

Kokichi smiled and went to click the voice button, but Kaito smacked his hand out of the way.

“Heyyy!” he whined, but Kaito was getting ready to speak.

He clicked the button down and spoke into the receiver. “As if I’d ever tell you who I am in here, Monokuma! I’ll never submit to the likes of you!” His voice echoed out through the exisal where Monokuma could hear. Kaito never knew a teddy bear could look so  _ angry,  _ but somehow it did.

Kaito clicked the voice changer, making himself sound like Kokichi to those outside of the exisal. “And if I did, it’d ruin all the fun and mystery! You don’t want a boring trial, do you?” Monokuma looked like he was going to burst as he left the trial room’s back area.

Kaito let go of the recording button and turned to Kokichi. “Was that any good?”

“Nope!” Kokichi popped the ‘p’. “I’d never say anything like that. Totally unrealistic.”

Kaito groaned. “I- really? Or are you just lying again? This is serious, you know!”

Kokichi let out his shrill laugh. “You’re so predictable anyway, you should just let me do all the talking!”

“No way, because your impression of me is terrible. I’m not letting you be me.” Kaito motioned between them.

Kokichi pouted. “But you’re allowed to be me? No fair!” he whined. Kaito could tell he was about to start crying again. 

“Stop crying. Seriously. You were fine with me pretending to be you when you were dead but not alive?”

Kokichi grinned, his tears quickly wiped away. “Clearly that was a miscalculation because you have no idea how to do impressions. Seriously! I can do a  _ way _ better impression of you than you can do of me.”

“No, you  _ really _ can’t.”

“Yeah, I can! See?” Kokichi ruffled his hair and looked back up at Kaito, putting on a fake deep voice. “I’m Kaito Momota, Luminary of the stars! I love Shuichi, but in a  _ totally _ no-homo sort of way!”

Kaito rolled his eyes. “I don’t actually say no homo, I’m not-”

“But I’m super duper head over heels for my favorite killer Harumaki!”

“Hey! She’s not-”

“And I’m also dying, but I think I’m too cool to tell anyone!” Kokichi’s eyes landed square on Kaito’s.

“Kokichi,” Kaito warned. “Shut up.”

“I think it’s somehow going to  _ help _ my friends if they have to stay oblivious to my untimely demise! As if keeping it secret is going to do anything but hurt them!”

“ _ Kokichi.” _

“But I care more about my integrity and hero complex than actually thinking about what’s best for my friend’s mental health. Because  _ clearly, _ that’s the more pressing-”

“ _ SHUT UP! _ ” Kaito yelled. He hadn’t realized there were tears forming in his eyes. “ _ Shut. Up _ . You don’t know anything about this, Kokichi. You don’t understand-”

“I understand, Kaito.” Kokichi interrupted him. “I understand that somewhere in your head you’ve got it stuck that you’re the hero of this big grand story, and you need to suffer alone and not let anyone know.” Kokichi took a deep breath in. “But you’ve got friends, friends who  _ want  _ to help you. All you’re doing by lying to them is scaring them off and making them think you don’t trust them. You’re  _ hurting _ them.”

Kaito leaned back as much as he could in the small exisal. “Maybe you’re right,” he grumbled, wiping his eyes.

Kokichi grinned. “Of course I am, after all, I  _ am  _ the ultimate-”

“But if you are, it means you’re a  _ huge _ fucking hypocrite.” Kaito laughed. “And honestly, I think we both kind of are. Huge fucking hypocrites.”

Kokichi looked away from him. “The trial’s gonna start pretty soon,” he said quietly.

“Yep. Hey, are you nervous or something?”

Kokichi let out a short laugh. “Of course not! I’m excited, it’s gonna be fun!”

Kaito looked at Kokichi with pity. “Yeah, I’m pretty worried about it too. Shuichi’s pretty smart, huh.”

Kokichi brushed him off. “My plan was perfect. He’ll never put everything together.”

Kaito sighed. “I trust Shuichi.”

“Trust that he’s gonna fuck the trial up?”

Kaito shook his head. “No, I... I trust that he’ll make sure everyone’s okay.”

“Huh,” Kokichi said softly, staring out the exisal window. “I guess then I sort of trust him too.”

\--o0o--

“I think... I know who the culprit is.”

If Kokichi was dead, almost everything made sense. Maki’s actions, the infirmary visit, the video, the clothes in the toilet, the puzzle was fitting together.

But Shuichi couldn’t help but feel like there was still something off, like there was a piece he shoved in there that  _ almost _ fit but on closer inspection, the corners didn’t quite match. This gut feeling of something being off was overpowering him.

_I’ve used everything. It all points to Kokichi being dead._ _What’s wrong here?_

Everything about this trial made Shuichi feel sick to his stomach. From the state of the body to the fact that he was forced to work with Monokuma. Having the bear that made him suffer for so long stay on his team made Shuichi sick.

Monokuma, working with them to figure out who the killer was.

...

Monokuma didn’t know the culprit.

_ Monokuma didn’t know the culprit. _

Shuichi suddenly felt very, very dumb.

“So!” came the voice of Kokichi(?) from the exislal. “Well, Shumai? You say you know who the killer is?”

_ Is that really Kaito? It makes the most sense for it to be Kaito.  _ Shuichi’s mind was racing.  _ But what if...  _

_ I don’t know how much Kaito or Kokichi weigh. There’s a possibility that they’re less than 120, but how do I know? The blood bags are suspicious, but would Maki work with Kokichi? _

_ If I say that Kaito is the killer, I could be dooming him. But if Kokichi is still alive, this could be our chance to beat Monokuma. My gut instinct says that they’re both alive, but can I really trust that? _

“C’mon, Shuichi!” The voice of Kaito brought him out of his thoughts. The exisal had moved back next to him. “My sidekick should know who's dead, right? Whatever you’re thinking, I’m sure you’ve got it!”

Shuichi gulped. “I don’t want to say it but...”  _ Kaito’s telling me to trust my instincts. I need to trust my detective skills. And if I do that...  _ “Kaito, you’re the one in the exisal, aren’t you?”  _... then I need to lie. _

“Nihishisihi!” Ouma’s voice laughed from the robot. “Nice try, but it’s  _ toootally _ just me here! Sorry!”

“No, Kaito, it has to be you. It’s the only thing that makes sense. Only you could fake the video, and only you could be in that exisal. Kokichi faked drinking the antidote. It has to be you.”

The Kokichi exisal just laughed. “If you say so, Shuichi!” Its metal arm pointed up by its mouth.

Shuichi turned to Monokuma.  _ I have to trust my gut here.  _ “That’s the final answer. I’m ready to vote.”

Monokuma smiled. “Well then!” His hands clapped together. “Let’s hold the final vote!”

\--o0o--

Kokichi hadn’t planned to be alive for this moment. He hadn’t planned to spend 5 hours in an exisal with Kaito of all people. He hadn’t expected to be on a first name basis with him.

Kokichi had a perfect plan that ended with him dead, his sins atoned for. But instead, he was still here, because he let himself give in to the fear of death.

He knew he deserved to die. He knew everything would go wrong because he didn’t.

And yet, nothing had gone wrong. 

Everything was going perfectly, and Kokichi was alive. Shuichi was getting the wrong answer, and Kokichi was alive. Monokuma was taking the vote, and  _ Kokichi was alive. _

He felt so wrong. Like this shouldn’t be real. But it  _ was,  _ and he was  _ alive,  _ and everything was fine.

Kaito’s arm grabbed his shoulder. “We did it, dude.” His eyes were trained on the window of the mech, looking out. The votes were in. Kaito had been found guilty. “We tricked the bear. C’mon dude, our friends are waiting for us.”

Kokichi let himself breathe. “Yeah.”

The exisal hood opened. He watched Shuichi let out a breath. Maki smiled at Kaito. Tsumugi’s face blanched. Kokichi felt the tightness in his chest loosen as he looked around at his  _ friends _ . He couldn’t help himself, he was happy to be alive around them.

_ “Nishishihihi! Don’t tell me you idiots actually thought someone died?” _


End file.
